The Greatest Treasure
by Danny vs A Month
Summary: Jesse and friends return to the Portal Network, but when they do, Jesse finds himself having some very vivid nightmares. Then, Murphy comes to visit. You know his law: "Anything that can go wrong, WILL go wrong." Seems like that law likes Jesse and his friends. Can Jesse keep his friends alive? Read and find out.
1. Chapter 1

I do not own Minecraft Story Mode or any of the characters. I didn't actually know that story mode 2 was a thing so we're going to pretend this takes place after episode 8 of the first game. It's where I got Petra's armor though.

* * *

Time Off

"I'm never letting him touch the atlas again."

"Seconded."

"The flint and steel either."

"Yeah, I think I'll keep those with me instead."

Inside of the New Order of the Stone's treasure room, Jesse carefully tucked the flint and steel away in his pocket. They had just returned from a third trip to the Portal Network, chasing after Ivor, who had stolen the atlas and its accompanying key for a second time. Jesse rubbed the inside corners of his eyes tiredly as the others looked around, making sure nothing else had been stolen by the less than stable member of their group.

"So, what do we-" Lukas was cut off by the door being kicked open by the same member they had just been talking about.

"Adventure!" Ivor shouted.

"No Ivor!" Jesse snapped. "We're exhausted! We've been running around that Portal Network for days. Heck, we had to go and play those ridiculous games _again_ just to save you this time. And now, I'm once again missing a sword. We're done. We're taking a long weekend. No adventuring, no portal network, nothing. Just three days of rest, relaxation, and me making a new enchanted diamond sword. Again."

"But there are so many worlds to explore," Ivor said.

"Not today there aren't," Jesse said as they walked past him. "For the next three days, all there is is time off. Oh, and as added insurance..." He flipped a switch on a wall and all of the treasure stands rose into the air several blocks before cages dropped over the treasure. Then, the switch sank into the wall, an iron block rising in front of it. "I'll unlock them again once we start work again."

Then, he walked out, Petra, Axel, and Lukas following them. They walked out into the city and Jesse sighed, rubbing his eyes again.

"Yup, your first day off is going to be spent sleeping," Petra said. "I'll stop by tomorrow with diamonds and enchanting books."

Jesse nodded, smiling. "Thanks Petra. I'll see you guys tomorrow."

Axel and Lukas both nodded and Jesse walked away from them, out of the city and back to the treehouse he had once shared with Reuben, now only his. He lay down on the bed for the first time and what felt like forever, staring at the ceiling before looking sideways to the picture of himself, Axel, Olivia, and Reuben. They were standing in front of one childish build or another, he couldn't remember which, but it had seemed so awesome then. Now, he couldn't even tell what it was supposed to be. He rolled over, closing his eyes and forcing himself to sleep.

* * *

Jesse opened his eyes, seeing storm clouds above him. Before him, burned black, was a spire of stone. He fell to his knees, staring at the bodies scattered around the base of it. Reuben, Axel, Olivia, Em, Ivor, Lukas, even Aiden. He stumbled forward, looking around. No Petra. Where was she? She had to be there. Maybe she was still alive. Maybe he could save her.

He looked up at the top of the spire and felt his heart stop. She was suddenly there, chained to the spire by her wrists and left hanging, several arrows and swords sticking out of her.

"Petra!" Jesse shouted, scrambling up the spire.

Her head rose slowly and he looked up at her, freezing as terror swept through him. Here eyes had been gouged out, blood running down her cheeks.

"Jesse," Petra said, voice frail and hoarse. "Why? Why didn't you save us? You left us. Where were you?"

"No, no no no!" Jesse stammered, falling backward off the spire, his suddenly moving and eyeless friends grabbing him.

"Why didn't you save us Jesse?" they began to ask, almost chanting the question.

"No!" Jesse shouted. "I didn't know! I didn't know!"

"Jesse!" Petra called out from above him, drawing his attention to her as she pulled one of the swords out of herself. "You left us Jesse."

"No!" Jesse shouted, sitting bolt upright, cold sweat drenching his skin and bed.

he stared across his tree house at the other wall, mind struggling to figure out what was going on. Suddenly, a knock echoed through the tree house and he shouted in fear, throwing himself away from the sound. A thunderous crash was his response as the trap door all but exploded inward, Petra scrambling through, sword drawn as she looked around.

"Jesse?" Petra blinked. "Are you...Are you okay? What happened?"

Jesse stared at her, mind slowly beginning to orient itself again. He swallowed hard, slowly standing on rubbery legs. He was aware that his pants were wetter than they should be for just sweat, but he ignored it.

"S-Sorry," Jesse said. "Just...Just a nightmare."

"Are you alright Jesse?" Petra asked. "You...um..."

He looked down, staring at the wet spot in the front of his pants and traveling down his legs. "Oh. My bad. i'll be right down. Just gotta clean up and change."

"I...Jesse...You're starting to worry me," Petra said.

"I'm fine," Jesse said, forcing a smile. "Like I said, just a nightmare."

Petra nodded slowly before walking over, hugging him.

"Don't scare me like that again, alright?" Petra asked.

"I won't," Jesse said.

Petra pulled back, nodding, then walked to the trapdoor and climbed down. Jesse walked to the bathroom, cleaning up quickly then changing into clean clothes and his armor. He threw his bedding in the dirty clothes basket and climbed down out of the treehouse, walking over to Petra.

"You ready?" Jesse asked.

"Are you?" Petra countered.

"Sure," jesse smiled. "It's just a shopping trip."

Petra nodded slowly before turning, following him as he walked toward town. They didn't need much. Mostly they just needed to borrow an iron pickaxe again. As much as they had saved up what they could, they were a diamond short. After about three minutes of negotiating, Jesse had settled on a deal for the pickaxe and they were off to the mines. They had their own personal mine all to themselves, courtesy of them being the only ones to know how to find it. Within a few minutes, they were standing in the bottom of the mine, surrounded by blocks of every kind of gemstone imaginable. Jesse sighed, starting with diamond. Petra started on emeralds. After a few minutes, they moved on to redstone and lapis lazuli respectively. Then iron and gold. Finally, they took what they had found and walked back to town, turning in the pickaxes and what Jesse had promised. Five of every kind of gemstone and metal. Once they had turned it all in, they walked back to Jesse's treehouse. He walked over to the crafting table, setting a stick and two diamonds on it, forming his new sword before also setting on a stick and two emeralds, just for laughs. The combination formed and emerald sword and Jesse blinked, staring at it.

"Those are a thing?" Petra asked.

"Looks like it," Jesse shrugged, just as surprised as her, having expected nothing to happen.

He took the swords to the enchanting table, adding the usual enchantments. Unbreaking, Sharpness, and Knockback. Once both were enchanted, he stood, turning and holding the emerald one out to Petra.

"You're giving it to me?" Petra asked.

"It's got to be stronger than that gold one you always use," Jesse said.

"True," Petra mused. "Thank you. Really."

Jesse nodded and Petra glanced at the trapdoor before hesitating.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Petra asked. "I know you had a nightmare, but...You've seemed out of it all day. I'm really worried about you Jesse."

"I'm alright," Jesse smiled. "I'll be fine."

Petra sighed and nodded, hugging him. "If you ever need to talk, I'm here for you."

Jesse nodded, hugging her back for a moment before letting her go as Petra turned, leaving the treehouse. Jesse stood there for several long minutes before lying down in bed. However, try as he might, sleep refused to visit him. Finally he rolled out of bed, walking to his storage chest and beginning to pull out materials. As he worked, his dream, specifically the images of all of his friends corpses, replayed through his mind. Finally, he was finished. He set his creations aside and sighed, rubbing his eyes. He was exhausted, but he knew he wouldn't sleep still. Instead, he decided to make improvements. So, he headed back to the mines. A few minutes later he was at the bottom and began to clear it out, breaking and collecting everything, leaving nothing behind. After a few hours, he left the mine as the sun was beginning to rise and returned to his treehouse. He returned to work, hammering the gemstones and materials into place one after another. Finally, he set the last project aside just as the someone knocked on the newly repaired trapdoor.

"Jesse!" Lukas's voice called out. "You in there?"

"Yeah," Jesse responded, stretching and yawning, walking over and unlocking the trapdoor, letting him in.

Lukas stepped into the treehouse and stopped, staring at Jesse's projects. "Jesse...what...where did you..."

"I made them," Jesse said. "Last night."

"How long did it..."

"All night," Jesse said. "I couldn't sleep."

Lukas blinked in surprise just as Jesse held out a suit of armor for him. It was similar to the armor he had worn during the first Portal Network adventure, except with obsidian woven into the jacket itself, iron gauntlets and pauldrons, and diamond leggings. As Lukas was staring at it, Jesse also handed him an enchanted obsidian sword.

"How did you...make these?" Lukas asked.

"I had to go through a few diamond pickaxes, but actually making it was simple," Jesse shrugged. "Armor in the middle and obsidian around the outside."

Lukas stared at it for a while longer before putting it all in his inventory. "Thank you so much. But...why?"

"I figured you guys might appreciate an upgrade," Jesse shrugged.

"What about you?" Lukas asked. "Are you going to upgrade Ellegaard's armor?"

"No," Jesse said. "It's already heavily enchanted, and has plenty of solid materials in it. It's fine as is."

Lukas nodded, and Jesse packed up the rest of it, walking to the trapdoor and climbing down, making sure to bring his own armor and weapons with him.

"Hey there you are," Axel said. "It's time to go man."

"Okay," Jesse said. "When we get wherever we're going, I have some stuff to give all of you."

Axel looked confused for a moment before nodding. He turned, walking away and Jesse followed, Lukas just behind them. After a few minutes, they reached the Treasure Hall where the others were all waiting.

"There you are," Em said. "It's about time."

"What kept you?" Olivia asked.

"You didn't sleep, did you?" Petra asked, worry thick in her voice.

"No," Jesse said. "I was too busy."

"Doing what?" Petra asked skeptically.

Jesse walked over to the armor stands at the back of the room, taking the armor he had made out and hanging them up one at a time. First, Olivia's. Hers was a Iron with diamond plating on the shoulders, chest, abdomen, knees, shins, elbows, forearms, and hands, including knuckle guards. There was also redstone running through the armor and a pair of specially made goggles that used redstone for night vision, zoomed vision, and thermal vision. With it was a bow made from diamond and iron with a string that was a weave of string and iron, making it much stronger for more range. Olivia stared at the armor as he moved on.

"Is that...mine?" Olivia asked.

"Yes," Jesse said, already laying out the next set.

Next was Axel's, only barely staying on the armor stand. His was entirely emerald, consisting of thick plate mail chest plate, leggings, elbow pads, gauntlets, and a pair of enormous diamond swords more than double the size of a normal one, created especially for him. Em's was similar, but with a helmet, one similar-sized sword, and one axe with a blade on each side that was about double the size of a normal axe head and rounded, rather than flat.

"Whoa," Axel breathed.

"Awesome!" Em gaped.

Lastly, Jesse set out Petra's. Everyone stared at it in amazement. Firstly, it had an obsidian weave shirt as flexible as cloth but as strong as iron armor with short sleeves, obsidian boots as strong as diamond, a diamond chest plate with a diamond pauldron on the left side, diamond shorts, an obsidian weave glove on the right hand, and an obsidian weave sleeve on for her left arm, like she wore at the start of their first adventure. She stared at her armor for a long moment before walking over, resting her hand on it, the gemstone glowing slightly in response to her touch.

"It's enchanted?" Petra asked.

"Yes," Jesse said. "They all are. Protection, Fire Protection, Blast Protection, Feather Falling, Projectile Protection, Respiration, and Unbreaking."

"Wha...how did you get all of those on these without them breaking down?" Petra gaped.

"Yeah, that shouldn't be possible," Lukas agreed.

"Obsidian has properties allowing them to take on more enchantments safely," Jesse said.

"This is...incredible!" Petra gaped. "Jesse, thank you so much!"

She hugged him and he hugged her back. After a moment, she stepped back before turning to the others. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to go and change before we head over."

The others nodded in agreement, grabbing their armor and weapons and running to their separate changing rooms, Lukas doing the same. A few minutes later, they returned, all wearing their new armor and smiling.

"This feels awesome," Axel said. "I've never had emerald armor before. Thanks dude."

"Yeah no kidding!" Em agreed.

"You're welcome," Jesse nodded. "So, where are we going?"

"Wait, Lukas didn't tell you?" Petra asked. "They made a movie about us! We all got free tickets to opening night!"

"And, I'm guessing that's tonight," Jesse said.

Petra nodded, smiling. "It's only our adventure with the Wither Storm, though, so Em's not going to get any screen time. Next movie though."

"Did they follow Lukas's book?" Jesse asked.

"That's what they said," Lukas nodded. "The next movie will probably be more accurate than this one, but at least this one will show how we all started, and how we worked together to defeat the Wither Storm."

"Ten diamonds says it has a scene of me going nuts with my enchanted sword against it from the outside," Jesse said, looking to Petra as they walked out.

"It wouldn't be a decent movie without it," Petra said. "The real bet is, ten diamonds says you do basically everything alone while the rest of us play fan club in the background."

"Oh you're on," Jesse grinned.

They walked into town, heading to the theater and sitting down. After a couple of minutes, the movie screen lit up and the well-beyond-packed room fell silent. On screen, the movie opened up with a scene of Jesse training with his wooden sword in a very, very complex mix of obstacles and dummies, fighting better on-screen than he could in reality. Jesse grinned. He liked the idea, though it would take time to build something like that. And Olivia's skill with redstone. Soon, it introduced Reuben, Jesse's faithful pig friend who was introduced by tackling Jesse out of the way of a trap-gone-wrong, saving his life. Jesse nodded at that, liking the movie so far. Next, Axel and Olivia joined in, the three discussing what type of monster was scarier, creepers, Endermen, or zombies. Finally, they reached the festival and proceeded to rapidly and easily build an Enderman statue that not only had purple fireworks exploding around it for effect, but also had the ability to watch people as they walked past. Jesse grinned. That would have been awesome.

Finally, the Ocelots were introduced, having Aiden and Lukas together spill the lava. Everyone frowned at that. But, Jesse managed to build a wall to protect his build, diverting the lava into the Ocelots' build instead, before chasing after Reuben, whose Ender Dragon costume had caught fire. He chased him into the woods where he seemingly effortlessly battled hordes of zombies and skeletons, the skeletons somehow not chopping straight through the wooden sword using their iron ones. Then, finally, Jesse's sword snapped just in time for Jesse to be stabbed by a skeleton. Jesse frowned. he had a feeling he knew what would happen next. Sure enough, enter Petra, who used her iron sword to massacre any monsters still around them before carrying Jesse back to her hideout. There, she bandaged his wound, and as Jesse was unconscious, spent several hours tending to him and making sure he was alright. Jesse instantly saw where the movie was probably going to take that later. He glanced at Petra and saw the same cogs turning in her head.

Once the movie version of Jesse woke, Petra gave him a diamond sword and they left the cave, fighting their way through dozens of monsters together until they reached town again, finding that their build had, obviously, won, and the Ocelots had miraculously escaped injury. Then, it was time for Jesse and Petra's deal with Ivor, who somehow came out even creepier on the big screen. After that went south, came the Wither Storm, with hauntingly amazing graphics and accuracy, including the part where Lukas froze when Petra and Gabriel were grabbed and Jesse having to choose. As expected, he saved Petra, who then shoved both him and Lukas through the portal just ahead of a tentacle, which somehow seemed to be sharp as it cutting her arm as it dove through the portal was what infected her with Wither Sickness.

Jesse sighed, rubbing his eyes before sipping at his soda as he watched the movie. It went on to detail his recruitment of Ellegaard with surprising accuracy, followed by a scene of Jesse having to save both Olivia and Ellegaard both by carving his way through dozens of tentacles. Then, there was the tearful reunion of Jesse and Petra, including a longer-than necessary hug and some blushing. Next, there was a scene of the gang meeting Magnus, then of Magnus and Ellegaard's less-than-friendly reunion. From there, the gang went after Soren and things became, understandably, a bit unfocussed. The recreation of the End was decent, the recreation of Soren's recreation of the world...less so. But, they did a decent job with the Endermen chase, and again an amazing job recreating the Wither Storm fight and subsequent revival and chase. Then, finally, the movie reached the point at which the gang, now including Gabriel and without Ellegaard after a tear-jerker "surprise" death, stayed at a cave to rest. At this point, the full extent of Petra's sickness was revealed as she secretly began to puke up something thick and black when alone.

Jesse looked to Petra who shook her head.

"Never got that far along," Petra shrugged.

In the movie, Jesse expressed his worry for Petra's condition, Lukas and Jesse had a...disagreement regarding whether or not she was okay, which came off a bit more as Lukas being jealous of what was painfully obvious between Movie Jesse and Movie Petra, before Jesse agreed to allow Lukas to go and find his old friends. Then, the movie followed the rest of the gang as they went to the Far Lands, which were, admittedly, difficult to recreate. Instead of a bunch of floating islands and Jesse taking the top of the maze's walls, he had to go through a complex series of ridiculous parts of the maze including floating islands, places where gravity was so skewed that he had to go through sections of inverted gravity, normal gravity, multiplied gravity, and even no gravity, sections where he had to fight dozens of monsters, alone, and a sections where water fell upward from a pond endlessly. Once he had taken the water to the top, he found himself at the entrance to Ivor's lair. He and the others regrouped there and quickly made their way through Ivor's twisted, yet accurate, recreation of the original Order of the Stone's Treasure Hall, and the "shocking" revelation of the Order being frauds. Then, Ivor gave Jesse a new enchanted diamond sword and they left to fight the Wither Storm.

Sure enough, the fighting began with a few minute long scene of Jesse running around on the Wither Storm's body, fighting things from spontaneously growing tentacles to Withers and Wither Skeletons that simply spawned from the Wither Storm's skin. It was a frightening thought, and Jesse could see how the fans, while knowing it was a load of crap, loved the scene. Finally, Jesse entered the Wither Storm through a hole the Endermen had made and found the Command Block, attacking it only for the Wither Storm to somehow invert its insides. At the same time, it caught and swallowed Reuben, allowing him to inevitably help Jesse once Jesse was captured by a tentacle. At this point, Jesse found himself clenching his pant legs tightly. The scene was perfect. A nearly one hundred percent accurate recreation of the event. Jesse was captured, Reuben ran along the tentacles to return the sword. The tug-of-war match between Jesse and the Wither Storm's head. Jesse felt a hand slip into his and glanced over, seeing Petra giving him a concerned look. He forced a smile and looked back at the screen, watching as Reuben fell in slow motion. He wasn't entirely sure if the one he was watching was a memory or the movie. Then, the movie Jesse destroyed the Command Block falling through the same hole. He splashed down in the water and swam to the shore, being met by his friends but asking only one thing: "Where's Reuben?"

Jesse then heard his best friend's cries of agony and looked around, seeing Reuben laying on the edge of a cliff, less than one full block from the edge, from safety. Jesse closed his eyes, trying to shut out the image only for the memory to play instead. And yet, the words matched. Of course, the one thing they get right would be that. Finally, the scene ended and Jesse opened his eyes, fighting back the tears as he watched the movie versions of them set up camp for the night before heading back. Everyone but Petra and Jesse eventually left to help the victims of the Wither Storm, now cured of their Wither Sickness and Jesse instantly saw what was coming. Sure enough, Movie Petra showed that she was cured and thanked Jesse, who responded by saying he was just glad she was okay. Then, the two shared a kiss and the screen faded to black. When the picture returned, the gang was in front of the entire town, being introduced by Gabriel, who admitted the original Order's mistakes before introducing the New order of the Stone, receiving thunderous applause as Axel and Olivia both struck "heroic poses" and Petra and Jesse kissed again, the screen freezing with that before going black and rolling credits.

Jesse was out of his seat and then out of the building long before anyone remembered they were in the building, Petra hot on his heels and the others following quickly. Sure enough, by the time they reached their Treasure Hall, there was a massive crowd of fans screaming about Jesse's fighting skills and asking if they were really a couple, some simply shouting for them to kiss. Axel and Em cleared the way through for them and they hurried into the building, closing and sealing the doors behind them before retreating to the upper floor where they wouldn't be bothered if they stood in the window.

"Well, that was...awkward," Petra said, looking around at the others, noticing Jesse was standing away from the others, staring out the window in silence. She walked over, setting a hand on his shoulder. "You alright?"

"I just...miss him," Jesse said.

"I know," Petra said. "I should have known that scene would hit you hard."

"By the way," Jesse said. "You owe me ten diamonds."

"Yeah, I guess I do," Petra snorted. "Twenty if we count both deals."

"Nope, just ten," Jesse said. "Your character saved mine, so there was no fan club."

"Fair enough," Petra said. "So, how do we get out of here to the Portal Network tomorrow? I so do not want to have to answer questions about how many times we've kissed."

"No kidding," Jesse grimaced. "Fortunately, Olivia's a step ahead of you. Olivia, is it finished?"

"It is," Olivia nodded. "The tunnel comes out in the old Order of the Stone's HQ. From there, it's only a couple of hours to the Portal Network."

"Awesome!" Petra grinned. "I guess we're staying here tonight, then."

"Yup," Jesse nodded, sighing. "I'm still exhausted from last night, so I'm going to sleep now. I'll see you guys tomorrow."

"Night," everyone said.

"Sweet dreams," Petra smiled.

"Thanks," Jesse smiled back before laying down and closing his eyes.

He wouldn't be having any good dreams after seeing the scene with Reuben's death, but it was good to hear anyway.

* * *

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	2. Chapter 2

I don't own Minecraft Story Mode or any of the characters.

* * *

New Adventure

Jesse stepped out of the portal and looked around, sighing as he took int he hallway. He had spent a lot of time here. More than he had expected to. And a lot more than he wanted. The others stepped out around him and he turned to them, nodding as Ivor held up the atlas.

"Where to first Ivor?" Jesse asked.

"Where do we want to go?" Ivor asked. "I chose last time, so it's only fair that I don't choose this time."

"I want to go somewhere dangerous so I can test out my new sword," Petra said, the others all agreeing.

"Well Jesse?" Ivor asked. "What do you say?"

"Danger does have its advantages, but we usually find enough of that on our own," Jesse said, thinking. "Let's start off someplace a little more...entertaining. Like a tournament."

"Oh god, not the Old Builders' games _again_ ," Petra groaned.

"No no," Jesse laughed. "I mean a real tournament. One where it's strictly combat."

"As you wish," Ivor said as the others agreed. "Atlas, take us to a fighting competition."

The Atlas glowed and the light shot down the hallway, everyone chasing it until it reached a portal that looked like a blue sky with a couple of clouds.

"Well that's an interesting portal," Jesse said. "Huh, this aught to be pretty fun."

The others nodded in agreement and they all stepped through, dropping out of the portal into a large glass box. They landed in a pile, struggling to untangle themselves and standing.

"Well well, looks like we have some new players," a voice said from above. "Alright, have any of you played Skywars before?"

The others all looked at each other in confusion.

"Uh, no," Jesse said. "What is it? And who's talking?"

"Oh I'm up here," the voice said, everyone looking up to see a man with greying hair and beard, a ratty brown shirt, blue jeans, and a blue cape hovering above them.

All around them, floating chunks of land, some massive and some tiny, some covered in snow and others grass, some with trees, others cactuses, and one with a castle, hovered with nothing but an empty blue void below.

"As for Skywars, the rules are easy," the man continued. "Don't die, don't fall off."

"But, I mean, if we do, we'll respawn, right?" Jesse asked. "It's not like...permanent, right?"

"Oh no, it's entirely permanent," the man said. "If you die that's it. Game over. You're gone. Get out the butter because you're toast. And if you fall, there's nothing but an endless void to catch you."

"Oh no," Jesse groaned. "I'm so sorry guys. So, how do we win?"

"You and your friends are all on a team," the man said. "Around you, you may notice several islands, that's the battle arena. The other floating glass boxes you see are the other teams."

Jesse looked around, seeing several glass boxes, one holding five people, one holding two, one holding three, and one holding only one.

"Now, I'll warn you now," the man spoke up, drawing their eyes back to him. "The other competitors have all survived other Skywars matches. They're veterans. But you guys, oh you're fresh meat. I'm going to wager about three of you _might_ survive. Probably less. The big ones usually go first. The girls last. Some of the competitors like to...play with their food."

Jesse stared at him before looking to Petra and Olivia who looked absolutely terrified. "I'm not going to let anyone die. I swear."

"Anyway, time to begin," the man said. "Last team alive gets to request one reward. On your mark, get set...WAR! ! !"

The glass shattered all at once and they fell, Jesse's team landing on a desert island and instantly beginning to move, wordlessly heading for the castle. As they jumped from one island to the next, they could hear the other teams closing in. Jesse drew his sword in preparation, the others doing the same. Then, the team with two members, a boy with a black sweatshirt with blue checker stripes, black hair, black pants, and a bow jumped out of the trees, firing at Jesse as he did while a second boy, this one was Axel's size with a complete suit of diamond armor and a massive diamond mallet, charged out of the trees, swinging at Axel. Jesse rolled under the axel, the boy landing behind him and Jesse turned to him.

"Get going!" Jesse shouted at the others. "We'll handle this!"

They all nodded and Jesse slashed at the boy, only for the boy to spin, smashing the sword sideways with the bow before jumping, slamming a kick into Jesse's forehead, flipping him backward. Jesse landed on his back and the boy set his foot on his chest instantly, aiming an arrow at Jesse's face. before he could fire, his teammate crashed into him, both of them sailing away from Jesse as Axel picked Jesse up, setting him on his feet. Jesse readied himself again, narrowing his eyes as he watched the pair.

"Sorry about that Cade," the one with the mallet said. "Guy's stronger than he looks."

"Must be a behemoth," Cade, the archer, snorted. "Can you handle him Jet?"

"He's nothing," Jet, the mallet wielder, sneered. "He won't surprise me again."

Jet charged and Axel met his charge, sidestepping the mallet and slamming his entire body into Jet's, knocking him backward before chasing him, only to receive a face full of mallet. Jesse turned his attention back to Cade only to see he was gone. He spun, looking around in time to see Cade dive between two trees, firing an arrow. Jesse rolled out of the way, standing and slowly looking around. Finally, Cade leapt out of the trees from above, firing at Jesse rapidly. Jesse rolled aside, charging just as Cade landed. He slashed at Cade but Cade spun his bow, knocking the sword aside before slamming it into Jesse. Jesse staggered backward then spun out of the way of an arrow, ducking under a second before leaping forward, tackling Cade. His close range advantage held until they hit the ground, at which point Cade managed to slip his feet up to press against Jesse and hurled him off. Then, he flipped to his feet, firing at Jesse. Jesse rolled out of the way of the arrows again, putting his sword away and pulling out his own bow, one he hadn't used in far too long. Just as he did, Cade turned, sprinting away into the trees again.

Jesse grabbed three arrows off of the ground before rolling aside as one streaked through the air where he had been. He spun, looking into the trees as Cade sped between two. He fired into the trees ahead of Cade but after a moment, an arrow shot toward him again. He rolled out of the way, standing and firing again as he saw Cade sprint between two trees, again aiming ahead of him. For a moment there was nothing, Jesse holding his arrow ready. Then, Cade leapt out of the tree Jesse had aimed just ahead of, firing at Jesse. Jesse rolled forward, barely avoiding the arrow then raising the bow and firing. Before his arrow had even hit, he spun, grabbing another off the ground and fired it at Jet. The one he shot at Cade drilled itself through Cade's heart, Cade's body crashing to the ground. The arrow aimed for Jet bounced harmlessly off of his armor. Jet looked over at him just in time for Axel, who was being choked by the shaft of Jet's hammer, to slam his fist into Jet's head then grab him by the shoulders, hurling him over the edge they were above.

"You okay Axel?" Jesse asked.

"Yeah," Axel nodded.

"Alright, let's go!" Jesse said, putting his bow away as both sprinted toward the castle again.

Jesse drew his sword again just as a man wielding a pair of iron swords stepped out, grinning at them. Jesse didn't even slow down, blocking a slash from the man before shoulder ramming him, knocking him flat to the ground before Axel drove one of his swords into his chest and ripped it out again, both continuing to run. They reached the edge of the island finally, seeing the members of the team of five building a bridge across the gap toward the castle, one of the five members using a shield to block arrows from Olivia's bow. Jesse drew his bow again, firing his sword like an arrow and impaling that member in the side, not fatally but enough that Olivia's next arrow hit him in the face.

"Axel, throw me!" Jesse said.

Axel grabbed his hands and spun, hurling him at the group instantly. Jesse crashed into them, knocking two of them over the side before grabbing his sword and slashing the other two, one falling where he was and the other falling off the bridge. Jesse stabbed the one that had stayed on the bridge and he exploded into smoke, leaving a set of wings. Jesse grabbed them, putting them on instantly before turning and sprinting to the edge of the bridge, leaping off. He concentrated and the wings snapped out, allowing him to glide quickly through the air to the Castle's island, landing in a roll and running to the door. Inside, three players were taking cover behind some stone blocks, firing arrows from enchanted bows at Jesse's friends. Each arrow fired was on fire.

"Hey!" Jesse shouted.

The players spun, remaining in cover as they fired at him. Jesse rolled out of the way, sprinting forward and leaping over the second volley. As he fell, he slashed one of them, punching the one beside him. The third aimed at him but Em's massive hand grabbed and crushed his bow, catching his arm and lifting him before she planted her axe in his chest, killing him. Jesse stabbed the other and they all sprinted to the top of the castle, Axel catching up a moment later.

"We made it," Jesse panted. "And, added bonus, only that single player is left."

"Yeah, but he's been surviving, and probably winning, alone," Lukas pointed out. "He's probably good."

"He's right," Petra said. "We need to be careful."

Jesse looked around, taking in the large open area they were in. There were a couple of racks of weapons, including scythes and spears, but for the most part, it was empty. He sat down against the wall and sighed, wiping his forehead.

"You were amazing Jesse," Petra said.

"Yeah, you took out almost all of them," Axel said.

"No one's hurting my friends," Jesse said. "This is my mistake. I'm not letting you guys pay for it."

"I'm going to set some things up for our last friend," Olivia said. "Thy'll probably come in handy."

"Your armor has an auto-builder in it," Jesse said. "I borrowed the plans the last time I went to Redstonia. Figured it'd come in handy."

"How's it work?" Olivia asked.

"One palm on the ground makes spikes shoot out of the floor, two makes the floor open up, one fist makes an arrow launcher, two makes several walls of them," Jesse listed.

"Got it," Olivia grinned. "This will be very helpful."

Just then, the ground shook and the ceiling began to crack. Jesse turned toward it instantly just as it all but exploded and the final player fell to the ground, fist cracking the ground as he did. He wore a ripped light blue shirt, blue jeans, grey shoes, and had tanned skin, a bushy brown goatee, and brown hair. But his most noticeable feature was easily his glowing white eyes. He stood, looking around at them before calmly walking toward the nearest weapon rack.

"Oh no you don't!" Olivia shouted, slamming a hand into the ground.

An arrow launcher shot up out of the ground in front of the man, opening fire, but he dodged between the arrows until he was in front of the thing, slamming his fist into it and destroying it. Then, he continued on his way. He picked up a diamond sword as Olivia recovered from her shock.

"I said no!" Olivia shouted, slamming both hands down.

A circle of launchers appeared around the man but instantly a diamond sword sprouted from one of them then shot around the circle, splitting them all. They all exploded into smoke and the man stared at them. Jesse stepped forward, raising his own sword. Finally the man's face changed from its emotionless stare, into a smirk. Jesse stepped forward just as the man sprinted forward, sidestepping Jesse's slash and punching him, sending him shooting across the room. Then, as Petra slashed, the man rolled away from her, standing between Axel and Em, punching both, sending Axel crashing into the wall beside Jesse and launching Em over the edge of the stairs, sending her tumbling back down them. Lukas and Ivor both slashed at the man but he blocked both swords with his own before shoving, making both stumble backward then kicking Ivor into Olivia, both flying away from him just as Jesse jumped and slashed from behind.

The man spun, blocking the slash then kicking Jesse's gut, launching him backward into Petra, both crashing to the ground and rolling. Then, he spun, literally catching the blade of Axel's sword. The world seemed to freeze for a moment, but instead of simply killing Axel, the man spun, hurling him by the sword after Em. Olivia slammed her palm into the ground and spikes shot up from under the man, only for him to already be airborne. As he fell, she slammed her fists into the ground again, making a wider circle this time. They all began to fire and the man began to move, dodging and blocking in a blur, moving toward one of the launchers all the while.

"Okay, this is pretty clearly not going to work," Jesse said as he and Petra stood. "Ivor, splash potion of speed!"

Ivor nodded, hurling one and it exploded between them just as the launchers exploded. Jesse sped forward, Petra just behind him and for a moment, it seemed as though the man was barely moving, until he spun, blocking their swords. Jesse jumped, kicking at the man and he caught it, slamming him into Petra and throwing her away before flipping Jesse over and smashing him back down into the ground. He slashed at the man and the man leapt back, blood trailing from where Jesse's sword had scratched his cheek. Then, the man roared in rage, shooting toward Jesse. At the last second, Petra appeared between them, slashing, aiming for the man's sword. There was a deafening clash and the man leapt away, his sword broken. he tossed the hilt aside, picking up a spear and twirling it.

"Thanks Petra," Jesse said. "You ready?"

"Not at all," Petra said. "Let's go!"

They both sprinted forward, Jesse rolling aside from a stab instantly. For a moment, Jesse thought maybe the man's skill with the spear was minimal, until it crashed into him mid-roll, throwing him away where he landed beside Petra. He shoved her aside instantly just before the spear drove itself down through his arm. He shouted in pain, slashing and breaking the spear and the man flipped backward over Petra's slash. Petra yanked his arm up off the spear and pulled him up, Jesse holding his injurred arm to his chest. The man grinned, pulling a new spear, this one entirely iron, off the rack.

"This is going to be hard," Jesse grumbled.

They charged again, and the man began to spin the spear. Petra pulled ahead of Jesse, slashing only for the man to knock the sword out of her hand. Then, the spear stopped by his side, already beginning to move forward. Jesse rammed into Petra, knocking her out of the way just before the spear stabbee though the left side of his gut. He grabbed the man's arm as Ellegaard's armor exploded into smoke.

" _No one_ hurts my friends," Jesse snarled, raising his sword. "Game over!"

He brought his sword down hard, only for it to crash into a sword made of somehow-solid lava the man was suddenly holding.

"Not game over yet," the man grinned, voice deep and demonic.

He shoved Jesse's sword away, sending it spinning across the room. The, just as he raised his own sword, an arrow launcher burst out of the ground between him and Jesse, throwing Jesse backward, the spear going with him. The launcher opened fire while the man was in mid-air, arrows burrying themselves into him in random spots, one getting his left leg, dropping him to a knee. Then, Em and Axel appeared behind him, slashing only for him to leap away, their larger-than-average swords carving into his back. As he crashed to the ground in a haphazard roll, Ivor appeared over him, stomping on him and holding him down.

"Now it's game over," Ivor said. "You made a mistake hurting Jesse. You pissed off the one person that you really don't want to see mad."

The man formed a lava sword but an arrow instantly stuck into his arm, making it fall limp. He looked over at Lukas as Lukas lowered his bow. Then, a pair of black boots filled his,vision and he looked up, staring at Petra's cold, emotionless expression.

"Please," the man begged, voice much less intimidating now.

"Just die," Petra snarled, driving her sword into his face.

Then, she dropped it, sprinting past Ivor and taking a health potion as she did. She skidded to a stop beside Jesse, ripping the spear out, earning a groan of pain.

"Jesse, drink this!" Petra said, lifting the bottle to his lips only for the potion to run out of his mouth instantly, along with blood. "Jesse you have to drink!"

"He can't," Ivor said. "He's too far gone to be able to understand what's happening. Someone has to help him."

"How?" Petra asked.

"You'll have to make sure it gets into his mouth," Ivor said. "But since the bottle's too big to fit into his mouth, you'll have to try another way."

"What do I do?" Petra asked.

"Use your mouth to ensure it gets into his," Ivor said. "From there, his body will instinctively swallow it when it reaches his throat."

Petra stared at him in shock.

"If you want to save him, it's the only way, unless you happen to have a funnel," Ivor said.

Petra hesitated for another moment before tipping the potion up, holding as much as she could in her mouth then bending down, pressing her mouth to Jesse's, allowing the potion to flow into his mouth. Sure enough, he instinctively swallowed as soon as it hit his throat. Petra tipped the bottle up again before bending back down, repeating the process twice more before setting the empty bottle aside, taking Jesse's hand and watching his face carefully. After a moment, his brow furrowed and a strangled moan escaped his throat as the wounds began to hiss, steam rolling off of them as they slowly sealed themselves. Finally, it was done and Jesse's eyes slowly creaked open, Jesse staring up at Petra for a long moment in silence.

"Petra?" Jesse asked.

"Yes," Petra nodded. "It's me."

"I...had the weirdest dream," Jesse said, trying to push himself up but finding his body would barely respond. "There was this angel calling out to me. Then...it's kind of fuzzy and hard to remember...but...I think the angel kissed me or something. And then I felt my body start to hurt again and woke up here."

"That...That's...amazing," Petra said quietly before smiling. "Although, I think Ivor's potion might have had something to do with it."

Jesse managed to turn his head, seeing the bottle before nodding.

"Maybe," Jesse agreed. "Can you help me up?"

"Sure," Petra nodded, carefully lifting him as the man that had been hovering above them floated down to land before them all, smiling broadly.

"Congratulations on your victory, imagine my surprise when you took down ever single one without losing a single member," the man said. "So, what can I do for you?"

"We want the exit portal," Jesse said.

"As you wish," the man nodded.

A moment later, a portal matching the one they had arrived through rose out of the floor. Lukas lit it and they all passed through. Once back in the Portal Network, Petra set Jesse down against the wall.

"Are you okay?" Petra asked.

"Yeah," Jesse said. "I'm fine."

Petra nodded before motioning for Lukas to follow her and walking away from the others. Lukas followed as commanded, and a few moments later Petra turned back to him, narrowing her eyes.

"If what I did to save him makes it into the book, I'm taking it out of your hide," Petra growled. "And you better make sure no one tells him."

"Why?" Lukas asked.

"Because...I don't...I'm not...just...don't let him find out," Petra said, turning and walking back to the others.

"Alright then," Lukas blinked before shaking his head, beginning to head back over to the others as well.

Jesse pulled some things out of his inventory, checking them before sighing and putting them back.

"I'll need a place to work for a while to make some new armor," Jesse said. "I...I can't believe Ellegaard's broke."

Petra nodded in agreement. "After all it's been through, a spear's what finally does it in."

Jesse sighed before standing heading for a portal with an anvil in the top left corner. They had been to the world once before. It was a world of merchants and armorers. They also allowed free use of their crafting tables and enchanting stations. There, Jesse would be able to make a new suit of armor.

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	3. Chapter 3

I do not own Minecraft Story Mode or any of the characters. Okay, so, I watched one play through of the available episodes of Story Mode Season 2. I like the drama between Jesse and Petra. And I like a few of the characters, though I'm not a huge fan of Jack.

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Recovery

Jesse sighed, opening his eyes and looking around. He and his friends had gotten a hotel room for a couple of days while Jesse recovered, however, there were only two beds. Axel and Em both volunteered to sleep on the floor since they each took up a full bed, and Lukas decided to keep watch, since their track record showed that they would be fighting something soon. That left Ivor to spend all night brewing potions to make up for the ones used during the Skywars incident and Olivia and Petra. As far as he could remember, the plan was for Petra to sleep with Olivia, leaving Jesse the bed all to himself. So why he suddenly found himself lying beside Petra he had no idea.

"You were having nightmares," Petra mumbled as though having read his mind, not bothering to open her eyes. "Every time I tried to go back to my bed they would start again, so I slept here."

Jesse nodded, staring up at the ceiling. He couldn't stop thinking about what had happened when he had almost died. It had felt so real, and yet he knew that he hadn't been saved by an angel's kiss, he had been saved by one of Ivor's potions. And yet, he could practically still feel the angel's lips on his. He glanced at Petra who still had her eyes closed. The movie flashed through his mind, or rather, one scene did. He closed his eyes, forcing the thoughts out of his mind. He couldn't dwell on that. He wasn't sure what they really were, but he wasn't going to ruin it by getting nervous and only thinking of that.

"Why the long face?" Petra asked.

"It's nothing," Jesse lied.

"You know, as amazing as you've become at fighting, you still can't lie to save your life," Petra said. "Talk to me, Jesse."

Jesse sighed, rubbing his eyes. He decided to tell a half lie. "I've been having nightmares again."

"Like before?" Petra asked.

"Sort of," Jesse said. "In the first one, I saw all of you dead. Your bodies were just lying there, but I was so scared. I don't really know why. Ever since it's been...different. After the movie I dreamed about losing Reuben. Then I...I dreamed about leaving you behind, and you being infected by the Wither Storm. I...I dreamed about what you would have become if we couldn't save you. And about what I would have...what I would have had to do. After those nightmares came the ones from the Portal Network. What might have happened if I couldn't save you from PAMA, the Old Builder's games, but without a respawn. Then last night, it was skywars, except...that guy stabbed you instead of me. And...you died."

Petra sat up, wrapping her arms around him. "I'm not going anywhere, Jesse. You're not that lucky. Like it or not, and no matter how often you dream of being rid of me, you're stuck with me."

Jesse managed a weak chuckle before nodding. "I still can't believe I lost Ellegaard's armor."

"I don't think she'd mind, since you're alive," Petra said. "Besides, you made an awesome replacement."

Jesse looked over at the armor, smilkng to himself. He was pretty proud of the armor as well. It looked like Ellegaard's except with iron where hers had had gold, Obsidian for most of the plating, and where Ellegard's had had redstone, such as the chest and back, Jesse's replacement had diamond.

"I did do pretty well, didn't I?" Jesse smiled. "I could probably make bank as an armor smith."

"Yeah, but then you'd have to give up adventuring," Petra smiled.

"True," Jesse nodded before sighing and climbing out of bed, pulling his armor on, then his sword. "Let's go for a walk."

Petra nodded in agreement and also put her gear on before the two left the room, walking through town, enjoying the peace and quiet of the nearly-empty early morning streets and the slight chill in the air.

"It's nice here," Petra said. "Peaceful."

Jesse nodded and smiled. "It's cooler than back home."

"So, what's on your mind?" Petra asked.

"Beacontown wants me to be their Hero in Residence," Jesse said. "They want me to be the recognized champion of Beacontown and to essentially run it."

"That's awesome!" Petra grinned.

Jesse smiled but stared at the ground. "Yeah, it's all I ever wanted before. To be recognized as one of the greatest heroes in history. But..."

"What's wrong?" Petra asked.

"I...I love to go on adventures," Jesse said. "I love to spend time with my friends. It may not be bad now, but with Axel as the ruler of Boom Town, and with Olivia essentially being the new Ellegaard, and therefor the ruler of Redstonia, and with Lukas writing in his journal, that leaves most of our original group gone. Heck, even most of the new guys are gone a lot. Ivor keeps running off to see Harper, thinking we don't know what he's doing, and Em's always with Axel. That just...that leaves you. If I became Beacontown's Hero in Residence, I wouldn't be able to spend much time with you."

"But you could protect town," Petra said. "That's the important part. You've always wanted to protect the town."

"Well, yeah, I suppose," Jesse sighed. "I just...wish I could protect them _and_ hang out with you."

"I'm sure we could manage," Petra smiled. "Besides, we don't have to be fighting a Wither Storm to be adventuring."

"True, but still," Jesse sighed.

"Hey, it'll be fine," Petra said. "You'll run Beacontown, I'll be your assistant who sneaks you out of town for fun whenever we can, and the others can join in when they have time."

Jesse sighed but nodded, smiling.

"Alright," Jesse agreed. "Sounds like a plan."

Petra nodded as well, grinning just as they stepped out of the town and looked around. All around the town there was a mix of rolling green fields and mine entrances. Petra glanced at Jesse and he grinned knowingly. Both wanted to go mine, but both decided against it. Jesse walked away from the gate, climbing the wall around the city and stopping at a spot overlooking a lake. It was perfectly still, giving it a mirror quality, the moon and stars reflecting in it. It gave a sort of surreal feeling to the view.

"I love it here," Petra said, leaning on the wall beside him. "Every time we come here it's so peaceful."

"True," Jesse nodded. "If only I wasn't hurting. I bet the mines here are amazing."

"In a city of miners and craftsmen, they're probably extremely safe." Petra said.

Right now, safe sounds like an excellent idea," Jesse chuckled. "Still, once I'm better, maybe we can go to that world with all the old ruins and go tomb raiding."

"I'm like that," Petra smiled. "I'm glad you're okay."

"Yeah," Jesse said, staring at the lake. "it's a regular miracle."

"Thank God for angels," Petra said with a half-hearted smile.

"Yeah...angels," Jesse mumbled.

"Are you alright?" Petra asked, brows creasing with worry.

"I...I don't know," Jesse sighed. "Every night...I dream that the people I care about most are dead. And when I'm awake, the dreams are all I can think about."

"They're just dreams," Petra said, setting her hand on his. "We're not going anywhere. I promise."

"I hope so," Jesse sighed. "Let's head back. I'm tired."

Petra sighed and nodded. They walked back to the hotel, returning to their room. Jesse sat on his bed, staring emptily at the floor. After a moment, Petra gently pushed him onto the bed, climbing in beside him. He smiled slightly as one of her hands slipped into his, her other arm draping across his chest. He turned toward her, taking her hand in both of his and closing his eyes.

"Goodnight Jesse," Petra whispered.

"Goodnight," Jesse smiled. He fell silent, but try as he might, sleep never came.

* * *

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	4. Chapter 4

I do not own Minecraft Story Mode or any of the characters.

* * *

Trouble

Jesse stepped through the portal and looked around. He was finally healed, though he wasn't excessively well rested. He sighed as he turned to the others.

"Alright, so, what's next on our more-than-likely horrible adventure?" Jesse asked.

"Let's go somewhere with a ton of dungeons to explore, but not as many mobs," Axel suggested. "Just a nice easy dungeon diving trip."

"You heard him atlas," Jesse said, holding it up. "Tons of caves and dungeons, few mobs."

The light shot out of the atlas and they all ran after it, skidding to a stop as the light entered a portal that looked like a castle. All of them grinned.

"Oh now this aught to be good," Petra grinned.

They sprinted through, then fell. They weren't high, maybe four blocks, but as soon as they were all through and on the ground, the portal vanished.

"Oh great," Jesse groaned. "Stuck again. Where are we?"

They looked around, seeing trees all around them and a cliff where the portal had opened. Jesse glanced at Petra who shrugged, turning and beginning to walk away from the cliff. Jesse and the others followed, Jesse catching up quickly. Soon, they stepped out of the forest and stopped, watching as a group of a few dozen soldiers wearing armor with iron plating and red leather straps hanging from it rode across a field on horses, each armed with an iron sword and a weapon that looked like an iron sword's blade on the tip of a stick. Suddenly, the horses began to turn, racing toward them. Jesse and his friends all drew their weapons, backing into the trees as the horses formed up before them, leveling their spear-like weapons.

"Identify yourselves!" one shouted, this one wearing a helmet, unlike the rest.

"My name's Jesse. These are my friends, Petra, Olivia, Axel, Em, Ivor, and Lukas. We come in peace."

"You come in peace, yet you wield enchanted diamond weapons?" the leader asked. "Men, stand down. We're not at war with humans."

"War?" Jesse blinked. "What are you talking about?"

"Where are you from Jesse?" the leader asked.

"Another world," Jesse said. "We came here through a portal."

"Well, I'm Commander Scott, and you've got a lot to learn about our world," the leader said. "Bring the horses!"

Several horses were brought over, Em and Axel each getting their own, and Lukas and Olivia shared one. The other three, Jesse, Petra, and Ivor all climbed onto. Then, the soldiers turned, riding off, Jesse and the others following. After about twenty minutes, they arrived at a massive stone wall with an equally massive gilded iron gate. From there, they were led through the streets until they reached a castle. The entire trip, people lined the streets to see the outsiders with the strange armor. but inside the castle, it was a different story. Soldiers lined the halls inside, weapons leveled at the strangers, all of them ready to kill them in an instant. Finally, just as Jesse thought he might lose his cool, they were led into a throne room, a massive, almost completely empty chamber with the only decoration besides the pillars being the golden chair opposite the door. They walked over to it and were pushed to their knees.

"My King, these people were spotted in the forest, they claim to come from a portal," Commander Scott said.

"I see," the king, and older man with a long, greying beard and equally long hair, mused, his decorative golden armor clinking as he shifted. "You there, stand." He pointed at Jesse.

Jesse stood and the King examined him in silence.

"Tell me your name, and why you have come here," the King said.

"My name is Jesse. My friends and I came through the portal to this world in search of treasure. What we found instead, was a forest and your men, who said something about a war before bringing us here under the pretense of explaining about the war. If there's trouble, we want to help."

"That's very altruistic of you," the King said. "Especially since I've offered no reward or pay, nor do I intend to. If you're capable fighters, and you wish to aid us against the Skeleton King and his forces, then by all means, help. You won't be payed for it, you won't be considered a part of the army, no one in the army will have any responsibility to listen to you or even acknowledge your existence, and if you hinder us in any way, I'll have you executed. But by all means, help out."

"I...um...okay?" Jesse said, not really sure what to do.

"You may all leave now," the King said, waving his hand. "Commander, test them and put them to work."

Commander Scott bowed before turning, motioning for them to follow and striding out of the room, Jesse and his friends following. After a few minutes, they reached a courtyard somewhere in the castle and Commander Scott walked to a weapon rack, pulling a pair of blunted iron swords from it, tossing one to Jesse, who caught it and spun it a couple of times, testing the balance. Once he had a feel for it, he readied himself.

Scott sprinted forward, slashing at Jesse rapidly, Jesse backing away as he deflected the blows. Then, after the eleventh, he spun, getting behind Scott and slamming the iron sword into Scott's armor, making him stagger forward. Scott spun to continue fighting, but froze as he found Jesse's sword to his throat.

"You're not exceptionally skilled," Jesse said. "If this Skeleton King you mentioned is as good as you, me and my friends will mop the floor with him and anything, probably skeletons, that he throws at us."

"You have skill," Scott said. "For a civilian. Since you're so anxious to face the Skeleton King, I'll give you a chance. We need a small team to recon the forest to the south, where there have been rumors of the Skelton King's forces building for an assault on this city."

"Sure," Jesse said. "Petra, Olivia, and Lukas, you're with me. The rest of you stay here. Try not to cause any trouble."

"They'll be guarding the walls," Scott said.

Jesse nodded and left the city with Petra and the others. They headed south outside of the gate, reaching the forest quickly. They walked into it in silence, all looking around for any sign of the Skeleton King or his troops. The forest was beautiful, flowers covered everything, including the tree trunks using vines wrapped around them, and birds chirped merrily in the branches above them.

"This place is so beautiful," Petra said. "It's hard to imagine a mob army living here."

"Agreed," Jesse nodded. "Olivia, Lukas, you guys see anything?"

"Nothing," Olivia said.

"Same," Lukas said.

Jesse nodded then slowed to a stop. they had reached a steep embankment of loose gravel, and the bottom was obscured by a thick fog.

"We might not be able to come back up this way," Petra said. "But I'm getting a bad feeling about that fog, so we definitely need to go that way."

"I think she's right," Lukas nodded.

Jesse sighed, drawing his sword and starting down the embankment, sliding down it quickly but fairly quietly. The others followed suit, and after a few minutes, they reached the bottom, stopping and looking around. The forest was entirely different here. Before, it had been warm and bright. Not, the fog blocked the sun, leaving a chill in the air, and it was darker, more like twilight than midday. They also couldn't see more than a few meters.

"Come on," Jesse said in a hushed voice.

The others followed him silently as they made their way through the forest. The trees were smaller here, and looked to be on the verge of dying due to lack of sunlight, however, as they got further, they found trees that were blackened with rot, a few having fallen over already. They went around them carefully, Jesse glancing down and seeing that they were walking on dead grass now, though that, too, soon disappeared.

"I don't like this," Olivia whispered, all four feeling like it would be a mistake to talk loudly.

"Me neither," Jesse said.

Suddenly, they reached a decrepit, collapsing stone structure and silently made their way inside. As they moved through the ruin, they carefully checked any corners they came to, making sure to remain completely silent. Finally, they reached a window overlooking what appeared to be a large courtyard. They stopped, all peeking out it. There, in the courtyard, was a skeleton dressed in armor made of bones, with a bone crown that had a single, teardrop-shaped purple gem in the front, and holding a bone sword. Around him, all bowing on one knee and filling half the courtyard, were dozens of skeletons, all with an iron sword stabbed into the ground beside them. And in the center of the courtyard was a Nether portal. As they watched, wither skeletons began to pour out of the portal, all filling the other half of the courtyard and kneeling as the normal skeletons were. Then, a skeleton dressed in the same kind of armor as the Skeleton King, but black bones and a red jewel stepped out. Jesse looked to Petra, who nodded back toward the exit. Jesse nodded and they all turned, hurrying back the way they had come. However, before they made it far, skeletons began to march out of a side passage, filling the hallway in front of them, all holding their swords at the ready.

"Shit," Jesse growled. "Let's find another way."

The others nodded and they turned, running back toward the window. They turned left at the window, running through the passageways of the castle rapidly. However, this time, skeletons began to appear from side passages in groups of two or three. They weren't exceptionally dangerous, however, and Jesse and Petra were able to kill them all within a few seconds of meeting each group. Finally, they found an exit, a long, very, very long, bridge over a seemingly bottomless trench. They sprinted out onto the bridge, a dozen or so skeletons sprinting at them from the far side. Jesse pulled ahead of the others, speeding forward to meet the skeletons. As he reached the first, it slashed at him, only for him to sidestep the slash, catching the skeleton's hand and spinning, hurling it off the bridge. He deflected the next skeleton's slash and split it up the front with the back edge of his sword, killing it. Then, he leapt forward, kicking the next one backward, making it drop its sword and crash into the next skeleton. Jesse grabbed the fallen sword instantly, leaping to the fallen skeletons and stabbing both. Instantly, Petra stepped off of his shoulder, falling at the next pair and slashing both, sending one sailing over the edge before decapitating the fallen one with her sword in reverse grip then blocking the next one's sword with her own, shoving the sword aside and flipping her sword around, slashing it. As soon as she did, an archer ahead of her raised a bow, only for Lukas to plant an arrow into the skeleton's skull, along with another archer behind it. Both burst into smoke and Olivia flipped into the air, hurling a wooden, lined block at the remaining group. It hit hard, bouncing once before expanding into a TNT tower with a wooden frame to hold them. Then, it exploded, blasting a portion of the bridge and hurling the skeletons, killing them all.

"Easy on the bridge Olivia!" Jesse shouted as they all leapt over the broken section.

Lukas, Olivia, and Jesse all landed fine, but as Petra landed, the blocks below her gave way. Jesse spun, throwing himself back to the edge and driving his sword into the bridge, catching her hand. He grunted as his shoulder was nearly yanked out of socket, then looked up, seeing dozens of skeletons and wither skeletons running toward them from the other end of the bridge. Lukas fired several arrows, killing a group of archers as they tried to shoot Jesse, then Olivia slammed both fists into the bridge, a wall of arrow launchers rising on the far side.

"Hurry!" Olivia shouted.

Jesse grit his teeth, pulling for all he was worth, slowly bringing Petra back up onto the bridge. Once she was all the way on, she hugged him, then pulled him to his feet. Jesse retrieved his sword and they all turned, running again as the arrow launchers burst into smoke, skeleton archers beginning to fire after them. After a few minutes, they reached the safety of the far side and turned north, running along a thin trail until it disappeared, then forcing their way through bushes and brambles, cutting it away as quickly as they could. Finally, after nearly twenty minutes, they reached the embankment they had slid own before, climbing it rapidly. Jesse slipped once, starting to go down hard, only to begin climbing faster, scrambling back up the embankment and reaching the top just after the rest of them.

"Everyone okay?" Jesse asked.

"We're fine," Petra said. "We need to get back to the King."

Jesse nodded, all of them turning and sprinting back to the city, gasping and panting for breath by the time they reached it but hurrying to the castle all the same. Scott met them at the door, demanding to know what happened, but Jesse shoved him aside, all four shouldering their way to the throne room, dropping to a knee before the King as soon as they arrived.

"What is the meaning of this?" the king demanded.

"Your majesty, the skeleton king has summoned his Nether counterpart," Jesse said.

"The Wither Lord?" the king scoffed. "Preposterous. He couldn't possibly possess enough obsidian to form a portal."

"My lord, we saw him," Jesse said. "We were chased out of the ruin they were in by wither skeletons."

"And what ruin is that?" the king asked.

"South of here," Jesse said. "In the forest."

The king stared at him, then at Scott. "Commander, is there any chance that they have everything they need?"

Scott was silent for several moments. "It's possible. If this is true, we may be in even more danger than we thought."

"These civilians have proven to be more useful than you in a single day, Commander," the king said. "Be wary that you do not anger me."

"Of course, your majesty," Commander Scott bowed. "Let's go you four."

They followed him out of the throne room to an armory where he sat, watching them as they all leaned against the wall.

"What was that ruin?" Jesse asked.

"It was the site of the Skeleton King's defeat the last time he battled His Majesty," Scott said. "His Majesty is the greatest warrior of all time. The last time the Skeleton King attacked, the king was a mere soldier, serving the former king. However, _that_ king died fighting the Skeleton King at the ruin you found, an old abandoned fort. His Majesty witnessed the former king's fall and was struck with anger and sought vengeance. He failed to kill the Skeleton King, but he _did_ drive him away."

"And the Wither Lord?" Petra asked.

"The Skeleton King's greatest ally," Scott said. "The Skeleton King possesses the ability to move at supernatural speeds. The Wither Lord possesses the ability to corrupt his foes, dead or alive, to fight for him."

"So he can turn his enemy's forces against them, literally," Jesse said.

"Indeed," Scott nodded. "In the past, His Majesty was forced to slay his own brother because the Wither Lord was controlling him."

"Then we should probably gather whatever forces we can and go kill them," Jesse said.

"No," Scott said. "This city has never been taken. It will withstand any assault by the Skeleton King, Wither Lord or no. And you all will be helping us to guard the city."

"And if we refuse?" Jesse asked.

"I thought you wanted to help," Scott said.

"Well, our options were either help or be executed, so..." Jesse shrugged.

"Well, that's not exactly accurate," Scott said. "We'll execute the males and the freakishly large and ugly female. Your more attractive friends, however," he gestured to Petra and Olivia, "will be...keeping the men company. The men could use a good way to relieve stress. Eventually, of course, yes, we would execute them as well. Or maybe we'd give them to the Skeleton King."

"You won't be touching either of them," Jesse snarled. "I'm inclined to let this city burn. However, we're supposed to be heroes, so we'll help defend it. But after that, we're _all_ walking away free."

"Deal," Scott said. "Unless the king decides otherwise."

"If the king decides otherwise, we'll kill him," Jesse said, Scott staring at him in silence for several moments before standing and walking out of the room.

"We need to get out of this world as soon as we can," Olivia said. "I don't want to keep the men company."

"You won't," Jesse said. "I'll kill them all myself before I'd let that happen to either of you. Come on. Let's go find the others."

The other three nodded and they left the castle, heading to the wall to look for the rest of their group.

* * *

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